dpaull

Ahh well...all is good. I met up with my friend, 1 stop at home depot for some quick tools and 1.5 hours later, we were finished. I know asking for advice in the middle of a project sounds pretty stupid, but at the same time, not asking advice would be more stupid. I feel that we stained this deck properly and effectively. It looks great and is covered everywhere, even under the rails and the framing wood also. I'd rather stop, ask questions, perform the task properly, and do a good job than to be too proud and do something improperly and waste my time doing the whole thing again. We ended up using some foam applicators and a 25' extension pole for the outsides. We used little 2-inch applicators for the detail work. It may take a little extra time doing it this way (over spraying), but alone, I could probably get it done in 2.5-3 hours or so properly next time around. The best part is I don't think I left with a drip of stain on myself or on any stones around the deck. We did spray the floor boards and then go over them with the foam pad on the pole (extended down obviously)...With two people, doing the flooring was literally a 20 minute job. The work is in the railings. -- Which brings me to my next question. $2 per square foot seems like a good formula to follow. Now let's say a deck is 30x12 with 3' railings all the way around. Do you add in the sq. footage of the railings for your price? What is the common formula to charge for railings? -- Oh and no pics, the sun was basically down when we finished, so everything turned out too dark in the pics. I'm stopping by tomorrow morning to look it over again, so I'll have pics tomorrow night.

OK...well, I have a friend that is in the industry going to meet me at 4 and finish this up with me. I should have waited for him in the first place...I've stained a few decks with him in the past and done a few fences on my own... I think one main problem I'm having is that my sprayer's tip is giving me too tight of a spray pattern. It's a Wood and Masonry sprayer made to apply stains, or so the box said. It's coming out pretty solid. I'm going to get him to bring his sprayer which seems like it comes out more 'atomized.' Thanks for the tips, I'm going to pick up some disposable tarps and use that method for the rails. I'll post some pics... And yeah, it's definitely not about making money at this point. It's about doing the job properly so I can live with myself tomorrow. I've learned quite a few valuable lessons though from this...being my first big deck job since starting up and going out on my own.